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23-Jewel Waltham 16-Size Vanguard Up/Down Indicator Railroad Pocket Watch CA1926

Estimated price for orientation: 1 425 $

Category: Modern
Class:











Description
Year of Manufacture: 1920-1929 Features: 12-Hour Dial, Arabic Numerals, Adjusted to 6 Positions, Subsidiary Seconds Dial, Double Sunk Dial, Railroad Grade, Up/Down Wind Indicator
Brand: Waltham Movement: Mechanical (Hand-winding)
MPN: Does Not Apply Escapement Type: Lever
Material: Yellow Gold Filled Serial Number: 25,255,925
Closure: Open Face Model: Vanguard


23-Jewel Waltham 16-Size Vanguard Up/Down Indicator Railroad Pocket Watch
Waltham; U.S./Mass; Man’s; SN#25,255,925; CA1926
CASE: The yellow gold-filled 16-size (45-49MM) No. 8,083,220 plain open face case is signed “Waltham.”
DIAL: This double sunk dial with Arabic numerals features subsidary seconds dial, up/down wind idicator dial and spade hands.
MOVT: The 23-jewel lever-set No. 25,255,925 nickel movement has a lever escapement, bridge-style layout, is adjusted to 6 positions and is signed.
C 3 (Case is in Very Good Condition)
D 2 (Dial is in Perfect Condition)
M 2 (Movement is in Perfect Condition)
R 8-1/2 (Rarity Grade on a scale of #1 being very common to #10 being extremely rare)
Expert’s Opinion: They do not come any cleaner than this beauty!  AI-AM62016-2
Lever Escapement
An escapement is a device in mechanical watches and clocks that transfers energy to the timekeeping element (the "impulse action") and allows the number of its oscillations to be counted (the "locking action"). The impulse action transfers energy to the clock's timekeeping element (usually a pendulum or balance wheel) to replace the energy lost to friction during its cycle and keep the timekeeper oscillating. The escapement is driven by force from a coiled spring or a suspended weight, transmitted through the timepiece's gear train. Each swing of the pendulum or balance wheel releases a tooth of the escapement's escape wheel gear, allowing the clock's gear train to advance or "escape" by a fixed amount. This regular periodic advancement moves the clock's hands forward at a steady rate. At the same time the tooth gives the timekeeping element a push, before another tooth catches on the escapement's pallet, returning the escapement to its "locked" state. The sudden stopping of the escapement's tooth is what generates the characteristic "ticking" sound heard in operating mechanical clocks and watches.
Stem-wind, Lever-Set Movements
Mandatory for all railroad watches after roughly 1908, this kind of pocket watch was set by opening the crystal and bezel and pulling out the setting-lever (most hunter cases have levers accessible without removing the crystal or bezel), which was generally found at either the 10 or 2 o'clock positions on open-faced watches, and at 5:00 on hunting cased watches. Once the lever was pulled out, the crown could be turned to set the time. The lever was then pushed back in and the crystal and bezel were closed over the dial again. This method of time setting on pocket watches was preferred by American and Canadian railroads, as lever setting watches make accidental time changes impossible. After 1908, lever setting was generally required for new watches entering service on American railroads.
Bridge Style Layout
The metal bar which bears the pivot of wheel and is supported at both ends.  The bridge style watch has two or three fingers to hold the wheels in place and together are called a bridge.  The term bridge (horologically) is one that is anchored at both ends.
Adjustment
Watch adjustment is the process of correcting those errors in the watch that cause variation in time keeping. These include temperature influences, variation in driving power and position of the watch with respect to mechanism such as pendant up or dial up.
Watches with better calibre movements will have been adjusted at the factory for a number of positions.  The usual array of positions include a subset of the following positions:
1. Dial up   2. Dial down  3. Bow up  4. Bow down (Not required by Railroad) 5. Bow left  6. Bow right
These positional adjustments are intended to insure that the watch is just as realiable and accurate regardless of the position in which it is stored or used. In addition to positional adjustments, the watch may also be adjusted for Temperature(heat/cold).  Temperature affects different elements in different ways.  Heat will cause some metals to expand faster than others, and cold may cause some metals to contract more than others.  A watch that is adjusted to temperatures will usually include some combination of metals that allow the watch to maintain its proper functionality within a larger range of temperatures than one that is not adjusted for temperature. Another type of adjustment is Isochronism.  As a typical watch spring unwinds the pressure it exerts on the wheels of the movement reduces